It started as some getle ribbing about who would have the better-selling autobiography by the weekend.

But a Twitter exchange between Lord Alan Sugar and Chris Evans soon descended into a bitter tit-for-tat with personal insults being traded.

In a conversation about how many copies each they had shifted so far, Lord Sugar claimed Evans had overtaken him in the book charts last weekend solely because people who'd wanted to buy his had been snowed in - and bizarrely said only people who worked in shops had bought the Radio 2 DJ's tome.

Read all about it: BBC Radio 2 and One Show host Chris Evans became embroiled in a Twitter spat with Lord Alan Sugar over sales of their autobiographies

Evans's Memoirs Of A Fruitcake sold more than Lord Sugar's What You See Is What You Get according to book charts last week.

Lord Sugar wrote: 'u only got there as my readers could not get to the shops due to snow . Your readers work in the shops.'

A perplexed Evans then retweeted Lord Sugar's assertion and added: 'Is @Lord_Sugar saying that no one who works in a shop should read his book ? What a bizarre message for a retail entrepreneur!

'Without shops, the people that work there and consumers that spend their cash there @Lord_Sugar would still be that miserable Alan bloke.'

He
then also kept addressing Evans by the name 'Ginger' and accused him of
being a drinker again, saying: 'I am worried u might take my role in
the apprentice. New format 16 people battle it out to find Britain's
biggest boozer.'

He added: 'You are mixing me up sunshine never been in retail in my life. Hope facts in your book more accurate.'

Tit for tat: Chris Evans has a pop at Lord Sugar on his official Twitter account